If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. ** If you are logged in, most ads will not be displayed. **

Windows OS doesn't boot up after unplugging External Disk

Originally Posted by devils casper

Hi and Welcome !

Does Windows OS boot up after unplugging External Disk?
Post the contents of /boot/grub/grub.conf file and output of fdisk -l command here.

Hi,

I have installed Fedora 12 on my external usb hard drive. My internal drive has windows 7 in it. bootloader i have installed is grub, while installing the fedora.
Problem is, now, if I unplug the external disk, my windows doesn't boot up.
Is there any way to install the grub on internal device so that, even if I don't have the usb, my computer boots up with windows? or what should i do now?
sometimes, i guess when it doesn't find the external harddisk while booting, it shows hard disk error.
thanks

I'm thinking that you installed the GRUB bootloader in the MBR of the internal drive.
What you need to do is repair the Windows bootloader. Here's a link.
Then install GRUB to the external drive.
You'll then be able to boot to Linux when you have the USB drive attached, and shouldn't have any other issues booting to Windows.

Okay, I recovered my mbr boot loader and installed grub on external USB hard drive. Now I can boot to windows directly. But how can I boot to Fedora now?
I have tried going to boot option and boot through usb drive, but it shows a black blank screen and does nothing.

So you now have windows in the mbr of your internal drive and when that drive is set to first boot priority in your BIOS, you are able to successfully boot win 7. Is that correct?

Which method did you use to install Grub to the external harad drive? Did you install to the partition which Fedora is on or to the mbr of the external drive? Are you setting the external to first boot priority in the BIOS before trying to boot Fedora? Didn't really understand your statement above. What type of computer do you have? HP? Dell? Compaq? etc...

So you now have windows in the mbr of your internal drive and when that drive is set to first boot priority in your BIOS, you are able to successfully boot win 7. Is that correct?

Which method did you use to install Grub to the external harad drive? Did you install to the partition which Fedora is on or to the mbr of the external drive? Are you setting the external to first boot priority in the BIOS before trying to boot Fedora? Didn't really understand your statement above. What type of computer do you have? HP? Dell? Compaq? etc...

I have lenovo with windows 7. windows 7 is in my internal hard drive. I tried to install fedora 12 on my external usb hard drive. While installing grub booting, i have given the target device as usb hard drive. Because, installing grub on internal overrides the mbr of my windows. I have given the USB drive as my first boot priority, so that, if the usb drive is connected, it tries to boot from usb (fedora in it). If not connected, it directly goes to windows.
Now the problem is, it detects my USB as a booting device option, but it cannot boot from there. it shows only a blank black screen and does nothing.
thanks
parisa.

Before repairing your internal MBR, were you able to actually boot to Fedora on your external?
And what method did you use to install GRUB? What were the steps that you took, commands used..?

1. Yes, I could boot to Fedora and use Fedora too.
2. I tried to install GRUB by booting from installation disk and choosing "rescue existing system". My plan was to install grub by command. But for some reason, I could not enter into the system. actually, I think somehow my linux got corrupted.

so, I installed the whole linux again, from the beginning, and this time, I installed the GRUB in external USB HDD. (dev/ hdb2 in my case.).

No jay, it's not working properly.
I cannot boot to linux now. I get the option of booting from external USB HDD in booting option list, but when i press enter to select that option, it goes to a blank screen and does nothing. Why is that? how can i boot to linux?